Interstellar Road Trip
by EE's Skysong
Summary: Morph is leaving Bayville, when he meets a diversion, a lost alien named Warlock. Morph agrees to help him all while still trying to leave but things keep getting in the way, especially Warlock's father... Third in the Big Boom Series.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: "I have a degree in computer engineering; you're gonna have to do better than 'You wanna see my underwear?'"

(An: READ THIS! All rightey then. This is part of a trilogy. Tri-lo-gy. Which means that to remotely get most of this you'll have to go back and read "Big Boom" and "Hyperborean Wanderer." Don't expect any more canon tieins from here on out; I may mention an ep event or two, but none of what I did in HW... because that was really annoying. I'd also suggest reading the link in my bio; it's where I got all the stuff about Warlock and will probably make more sense than any explanations I give. It'll be confusing, anyway, though; thanks to insensitive jerks (a.k.a. Marvel execs) a lot about Warlock never really got explained. There isn't a gap between this story and the last... we begin where we last left Morph.)

Morph slid onto the bus stop bench, massaging his temples and yawning. It was two in the morning; the next bus came in half an hour. He just had to sit here, wait, and try not to lose his nerve.

Sit. And wait. These were not two of Morph's favorite activities.

He leaned his head back against the bench and closed his eyes.

TEN MINUTES LATER...

Morph was awakened by a big explosion right next to his bench. "HOLY CRAP!" Morph yelled, jumping about five feet off the bench and landing in the bushes. After a moment, he poked his head out. Lodged in the tree was a weird piece of shiny rock... or was it metal? All Morph knew was that he'd never seen anything like it. The tree was smoking slightly, but the... thing... looked to be all right. _Ok, Morph, deduction time. There's a thingy in the tree that looks like the only place it could've come from is the freaking _sky..._ What do you do next?_

He thought for a moment, taking a closer look at the lump. It was black metal, but kind of lumpy, and it had a weird yellow pattern on it. _Poke it._ Morph nodded in utter agreement with himself and prodded the blob. The effect was something like an electric shock- a bright light, a yelp from Morph, and a voice from the blob. Morph blinked, sucking his finger. _Ok, maybe that wasn't the best idea._

"Query: is Self-Friend all right?" asked the blob.

"...HOLY CRAP!" said Morph for the second time in less than five minutes.

The blob (which had pulled itself into a vaguely human shape) blinked at him. It offered him a hand up. Morph accepted it, still blinking. "Repeat query: is Self-Friend all right?"

Morph nodded. "...Ok, buddy, let's get straight to the point: what the hell **are** you?"

The thing appeared to mull this over. "Self is a member of the Technarchy race. Self believes that Self-Friend's race would refer to us as... aliens."

Morph stared.

After a moment, the alien said, "Query: is Self-Friend sure that Self-Friend has sustained no injuries?"

Morph shook himself. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, pal. What's your name?"

"Self's title is Warlock."

"Warlock, huh?" He nodded. "Well, I'm Morph." Morph sat back down on the bus stop and gestured for him to do the same.

"Thank you for helping Self, Self-Friend Morph."

"So why're you here? Got blown off course at Orion's Belt? Missed the exit at the moons of Venus? Shoulda taken a left turn at Albequerque?"

Warlock blinked. "Self... does not understand."

"Well, I can give you a break, I guess- s'pose those not of our galaxy haven't heard of the wonders of classic cartoons. How'd you get here?"

"The Technarchy are capable of space travel. It's quite easy."

Morph stroked his chin. "Sounds handy. Why'd you come?"

Warlock pulled on one of his wirelike hairs, clearly thinking. "Self... did not want to stay with the Technarchy."

"Got tired of the Prime Directive? Bugged by the Hive Mind? Didn't like Plan Eight from the Outer Rim?"

Warlock shifted uncomfortably. "Self and Self's..." He paused, tugging his hair again. "Self is not sure of word."

"Well, considering you speak English at all, I'm willing to let you go. Uh... describe it."

"Self is referring to the Magus. Self was made from the Magus's genetic code."

"So... he's like your father?"

Warlock beamed at him, nodding. "Yes! That is word! Self's father. Self and Self's father do not get along."

"So you ditched the scene. Totally get you. I'm doing the same thing."

"Self-Friend Morph is 'ditching the... scene?'"

"Yep," Morph said, and immediately felt guilty again. He shook himself. "But this is about you, my friend, not me." He glanced at his watch. _It's an ungodly hour of the night. Ride the bus with a bunch of whackos, or show an alien around town... DUH!_ "It's late night and the town is ours. You want something?"

Warlock seemed to think about how to phrase his next statement. "Yes... Self needs to... recharge."

"What, like plug yourself in?"

Warlock blinked.

"Do you eat or what?"

'Lock tugged his hair. "The Technarchy survive by absorbing the lifeglow of other beings. We do not... eat... as Self-Friend Morph seems to suggest."

"So... how can I help?"

"Self believes that a source of electricity would replace Self's energy."

"Got a plug or something?"

Warlock stretched his arm, and it turned into a plug.

"Well, you're just a bundle of laughs, aren't you," Morph commented. A little gingerly, he took Warlock's hand and plugged it into the streetlight. (1)

Warlock sighed blissfully and the dim yellow lines on his body slowly changed to a bright white.

"Wish I could do that," Morph commented, yawning. He glanced at 'Lock. "So... you're like on an interstellar road trip, huh?"

"Self... supposes Self-Friend Morph could say that...

"How about you and I go discuss Earthspeak over a danish, hmm?"

"All right... query: what is a danish?"

"You've got a **lot** to learn, pal."

Morph sighed as he glanced back at the bus stop. _After all, I can always just take another one..._

THE NEXT MORNING, AT THE INSTITUTE...

Rob came out of his room, looking around. He tapped Bobby on the shoulder. "Have you seen Morph?"

"Nope, sorry man... he's **your** roomate, after all."

"Yeah, but I haven't seen him all morning; I just thought that for once he got up earlier than I did."

Bobby snorted.

"I know, but still."

Bobby shrugged. "Sorry, dude, haven't seen hide nor hair of the Morphster."

Rob paused to give Bobby the WTF eyebrow for the nickname before heading into the makeshift common room, where the senior X-men were lounging. He leaned on the back of the couch and prodded Scott. "I think Morph's left."

Scott tilted back his head and looked at Rob. "What?"

"He wasn't in the room this morning and nobody's seen him."

Rogue, over on the floor, growled.

"_Chere_," said Remy, looking up from his magazine, "as much as y' know I **adore** y', might I suggest anger management?"

Rogue glared at him. "Why don't Ah practice on **you**!" (2)

Remy got the hint and quickly decided there was somewhere else he had to be.

"We'd better tell the professor," said Kitty, watching Rogue chase Remy off with the rest of them.

"Yep," Kurt agreed.

In perfect tandem, Kitty, Kurt, Jean, Scott, and Evan all got up and walked out, leaving behind a rather confused Roberto.

(Wow, I didn't think I'd be done with this so quickly. I only made up the outline two days ago, mind.)

(1) To explain: Warlock's race usually gets energy from two sources: lifeglow (sapped from other beings) or electricity. 'Lock, being a peaceful creature, prefers the latter. And the reason he didn't absorb Morph that second time is 'cause he can restrain that urge.

(2) This actually happened to me, once; I made the mistake of suggesting this treatment to a friend's rather violent older sister... she, uh, still, hasn't forgotten, and I have the mark to prove it.


	2. Determination

Disclaimer: "So you dash in, guns blazing, sweep Miss Kitty off her feet, and get the hell outta Dodge!" "You mean New York, right?" "You sure know how to ruin a moment, kid."

(An: Yeah, I was very surprised by how easily this wrote... it's scary. And now we get to more... with Forge! The streelights have outlets in Neillsville... well, some of them, anyway. It was handy, ok?)

BACKING UP A BIT, WITH MORPH AND WARLOCK LAST NIGHT...

Morph hadn't realized just how many people were out this time of night. He was constantly covering for Warlock. He dragged him into a back alley. "Ok, 'Lock, buddy, we're gonna have to figure out a way to get you to be less conspicious, seriously, 'cause trust me- looking weird, with current events, is **not** the best course."

Warlock, blinked, cocked his head, and shapeshifted into a normal-looking human. "Query: is this more suitable?"

"...Dude, why didn't you mention you could do that?"

"Self-Friend Morph did not ask."

"...You **sure** you've no knowledge of cartoons?"

"Query: what is a 'cartoon'?"

"Just checking, man," said Morph. "C'mon, let's go get pastries!"

He dragged Warlock off before he could ask what a pastry was.

PRESENT TIME...

It was almost noon. Morph decided it was time to leave. _But what do I do with this guy? I've only got enough for one bus ticket into the next town... and I am _not_ staying here..._

Morph propped his chin on his fist, absently listening to Warlock's gabble.

"And the tech!" Warlock exclaimed. "Self-Friend Morph's planet is so... obsolete compared to Kvch (1)... it is almost refreshing!" He took out a little piece of wiring he'd found and began to play with it. "Query: Self-Friend Morph's people still use wires?" He stretched it and peered at it curiously. "Strange... certainly Self-Friend Morph's people would've invented something better..."

"We do... they're just not very reliable," Morph responded absently. He'd gotten a brain spark at "invented." _Who was that one guy Kurt was always going on about? With the arm?_ "Forge!" 

"...query: who is Forge?" Warlock asked, pausing in his rant.

"The answer to our problems, buddy boy," Morph replied, rubbing his hands together and beaming.

A LITTLE WHILE LATER...

It wasn't very hard finding Forge in the phonebook, and his house was easy to spot, it being the only one with a giant superlab for its basement. "They list his house number as being 405... but it goes from 403 to 407..." Morph murmured.

"Self believes Self sees it," Warlock said. He pointed at a bead curtain by the garage door. A sign tacked to it read "405."

"Good eyes, man, good eyes," Morph said, starting for it.

Warlock drifted along in his wake, avidly inspecting the house.

Morph knocked on the paneling next to the curtain. "I'm back here!" came a voice.

Morph and Warlock walked through, and into a room that, if it hadn't been for the brand-new computer and stereo, could've been mistaken for a bunker from the seventies.

A drawn-out guitar solo stopped abruptly. "Hi!"

Morph jumped about a foot as a guy with black hair tucked under a tie-dyed bandana and a robotic arm emerged from the depths of the room... right next to him. Moprh grinned, embarrassed. "Uh, hi there."

"So... who are you?" Forge asked, picking up something on one of the tables and messing with it.

"Uh, I'm Morph," said Morph, dropping his normal human shape.

Forge gave him a suspicious look. "Where're you from?"

Morph blinked.

"I have to check- I don't do government work."

"...I'm from the Institute..."

"Oh, well all right then, why didn't you say so?" Forge beamed at him and went back to whatever he'd been working on. "What can I do you for?"

"Look, Forge. Warlock here needs a place to crash."

"So take him to the Institute," Forge responded.

"Long story, can't. And I think you'd be interested, being a supergenius and all." Morph nudged Warlock. "You can go back to normal now, bud."

Warlock changed back to his normal alien form. "Hello, Self-Friend," he chirped.

Forge dropped the thing he was holding. "...HOLY CRAP!"

"That's what I said."

"What... what **is** it?"

"It's not an it," Morph replied, putting his hands on his hips, "he's Warlock."

"Actually Self's people are asexual," Warlock pointed out.

"Gender-biased language, bud, to me, you're a guy," Morph said, waving a hand at him. "Anyway, Lock's an alien, so I figured what with you being the local scientist dude, you'd take him on."

"You aren't serious," Forge said, shaking his head. "This is TOO weird."

"It's true!" Morph said, and Warlock nodded.

"Self is from the Technarchian race," said Warlock.

"So... you want to stay with me?" Forge inquired of Warlock, who nodded.

"Self-Friend Morph would like to 'ditch the scene' and cannot do so with Self," Warlock explained, seeming a bit saddened.

"Well, all right then," said Forge, grinning.

"Ah, just one more thing," said Morph, holding up a finger and grinning nervously. "I have a feeling the X-men are going to come looking for me- if they come here, could you do me a favor-"

"You were never here, got it," Forge said. He seemed far more interested in inspecting Warlock than listening to Morph.

"THANK you," Morph sighed. He saluted and ducked out.

AT THE INSTITUTE...

Xavier steepled his fingers, listening to the other X-men. "So our newest student has left," he murmured. "This is good to know, but if Morph wants to leave..." He shrugged. "It's really his decision. He came here of his own free will, so he can leave of his own accord as his well."

"But-" said Rogue.

"It's his pregative, Stripes," Logan interrupted. "If the kid wants to go, he can go. We ain't keepin' him here. Now move it. End of discussion."

The X-men walked out, Rogue hanging back with Kurt.

"So," Kurt whispered. "Where do we start?"

"Start what?" Rogue replied, overly innocent.

"Looking for him."

Rogue glanced around for a moment, then leaned in. "Ah say the park."

Kurt nodded. "After school?"

"After school it is."

(That's that... blegh, I have not had any time to just sit down and write this.)

(1) The official name of Warlock's homeworld. Referred to by this... about never.


	3. Delays

Disclaimer: "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."

(An: Uh... there's probably not going to be any Storge... not that I don't lurve it so but I couldn't fit it in anywhere... which makes me sad. And I don't think anybody knows how to pronounce Kvch... it's just random knowledge.)

AT THE BUS TERMINAL, 4:00 P.M...

Morph sighed and sat down on one of the benches. It was going to be a long wait for his bus. He'd found the farthest he could go on what he had, and the bus didn't leave for another two hours. It was a while to wait, but it would get him out of the city, and that was the important thing.

IN THE PARK...

Kurt and Rogue had combed through the park. "No sign of Morph," Rogue muttered.

Kurt tapped his lips with a finger (well, actually, thanks to his inducer it looked like two). "Maybe... hmm."

Rogue glanced at him. "What?"

"Forge might have a mutant tracker thingy," he suggested.

"Good idea," Rogue said with a shrug. "We don't have any other leads... let's go."

AT FORGE'S HOUSE...

Forge sighed, tapping the table with a ballpoint pen. "Oh, man," he muttered.

Warlock was happy enough. He was fascinated by the junk in Forge's lab, curiously messing with everything he could get his hands on.

Forge, however, was having a guilt attack. He knew that most of the people at the Institute weren't legal, and that they were under the Institute's guardianship. That meant that if the parents came knocking, and their kid wasn't there... major legal trouble. Morph had said not to tell anybody that he'd been here, meaning he was running away. Meaning that if Forge kept his mouth shut, the people from the mansion would have more trouble than if he just called them and told them he'd seen Morph.

Forge was saved a further guilt trip by someone knocking on the door. _Thank GOD..._ "I'm in here!"

Kurt and Rogue came in, looking around.

"Stop bugging, nothing bites," Forge said.

"What the **hell** is that!" Rogue demanded, pointing at Warlock, who looked up from rebuilding a cell phone and waved.

"Hello, Self-Friends," he chirped.

"That's Warlock," Forge explained. "He's an alien."

"...Right," said Kurt.

Rogue raised one eyebrow.

"What else is black, yellow, and eats electricity?" Forge replied.

"Good point," Kurt admitted, careful not to touch anything.

"What do you guys want?"

"Did a pale guy come by here? Calls himself Morph?" Kurt asked.

_Ok, clench time, Forge..._ Forge slumped down on the table. "Yes... I think he was heading for the bus terminal."

'Lock looked up from his half-finished mobile. "Query: are we discussing Self-Friend Morph?"

Kurt and Rogue gave Forge odd looks, who shrugged. "It's just the way he talks," Forge replied. "And yeah, that's him."

"Query: are Self's Friends looking for Self-Friend Morph?"

"Yep," Rogue agreed. "Why, did he tell you where he was goin'?"

"No, but Self could find Self-Friend Morph- Self absorbed a little of his lifeglow."

"Well, that's handy," Rogue commented. "Do you know where he is right now?"

Warlock cocked his head and then shook himself. "Self-Friend Morph is probably out of Self's range," he explained. "Self only got a little of Self-Friend Morph's essence, and Self still needs more recharging."

Rogue held up a hand. "Ok, look, Warlock," she said (still looking a little weirded out at the whole "alien" thing), "we'll come back tomorrow. Right now... we've got a DR session oh crap Logan's gonna kill us!"

Kurt grabbed her and they bamfed.

"...That was weird..." Forge mumbled, blinking. Oh, well, at least he wasn't on the guilt trip anymore.

WITH MORPH, 5:52 P.M...

Morph was heading for the bathroom when a bunch of guys walked out. They all stopped talking to glare at Morph. If he'd been able to, he would've blanched. Morph backed up. "Now look, pallies, I don't want trouble, ok?"

"So the mutie freak thinks he can talk, huh?" said the apparent leader.

_Ok, bad idea,_ Morph thought, trying to get **anyone's** attention. But all the others in the station seemed perfectly happy to just walk on. _Shoulda stayed with the disguise... lay low means lay low, idiot!_

The group closed in on him. Nobody batted an eye even though Morph was in the middle of the terminal by now. One sharp hit and everything went black.

7:12 P.M...

Morph came around, blinking. He was still lying in the middle of the terminal. Everyone was still ignoring him. The guys were gone, as well as his backpack. Morph moaned, slumped back down on the floor, and regretted it as he bumped the huge bruise on the side of his face. _Why oh why couldn't I have healing powers that fix bruises, as well?_ he mentally moaned. _Man, what am I gonna do now?_

He spotted a paper lying on a chair. _Want ads, here I come... joy._

(I know that's a pretty short chapter, but that's all I need to fit into it... so yeah.)


	4. Doubts

Disclaimer: "Heart attacks: God's revenge for people eating his animal friends."

(An: Ok... here we go again... as for the bit with Warlock... I'm kind of going from stuff that gets inferred in the comics- they explain crap about as well as a Japanese translation. And as for Morph's new job... don't ask. There's actually a position like that in our town. Except it's for a flower shop.)

THE NEXT DAY...

If things were normal, Morph never would've taken the job. That was for certain.

But things **weren't** normal, and Morph was desperate. He'd went through the want ads twice, just to be sure, but there was still only one job that fit his requirements: a no-commitments, quick-cash, only-for-a-few-hours deal.

That didn't make it any less humiliating, though.

"Edith's Easter Emporium," Morph mumbled, holding out fliers. _I can't_ believe_ I'm doing this!_

He was used to wearing weird things, but a giant bunny suit was stretching it. _Way stretching it._

The only consolation was that he only had to wear it until he'd passed out all the flyers. He was already halfway through the stack. _We do what we have to. We do what we have to. Just keep telling yourself that..._

What made him almost drop his flyers was when he spotted the Brotherhood. They wouldn't recognize him- he was out of his normal form and in a giant bunny suit, for crying out loud- but that didn't mean he didn't recognize them. He made a funny little squeaking gasp and grabbed at the papers, which were slipping out of his hands. He quickly straightened up, keeping his head down even though he didn't really need to.

Tabitha was arguing with Lance about who had to pay for the gas for the jeep.

"You're the one who uses it all!" Lance yelled.

"Yeah, hon," Tabitha replied, "but it's **your** jeep, as you're constantly reminding me."

Lance's eye twitched.

Morph sighed as they walked off. He'd never really gotten to know the Brotherhood, but they didn't seem as bad as Logan and Scott portrayed them. Tabitha, the only one he'd really talked with, seemed all right enough... _Guilt trippin' and it feels so bad,_ Morph thought. _Focus, Sidney, you're _this_ close to being out of here._ (1)

It was a little trickier getting people to take his fliers, though; after seeing the bunny be all angsty people weren't as eager, it turned out.

WITH WARLOCK...

Warlock was completely out of it that afternoon. All day he'd been staring off into space with a worried expression.

"Hellooo, Earth to Warlock," said Forge, waving a hand in front of his face.

Warlock blinked.

"That's the third time I called you," said Forge. "Are you sick or something?"

Warlock shook his head. "No," he replied. "Self was simply thinking."

"About what? You looked like you thought the world might end."

_Self is certain that Self-Friend Forge would be pleased to hear that it just might,_ Warlock thought dryly. "Self was thinking about Self's father," he replied, which wasn't a lie.

Forge blinked and then cocked his head. "I thought that there weren't parents in your race..."

"Self's father is simply the easy way of saying the one who provided part of Self's genetic code." Warlock shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "Self did not like his father very much."

"I'm guessing your dad was always more for the whole 'war' thing, huh," said Forge. "I get it."

Warlock nodded.

There was a knock at the door. "Why do you even bother?" Forge yelled in response. "I'm always down here!"

"Ah'll take that as 'it's open'," came a familiar Southern voice. Rogue and Kurt came in.

"Why do you want to find Morph so bad, anyway?" Forge asks. "Seems to me like it's his prerogative."

Rogue stared at him, eyebrow raised, for a moment, then said, "'Cause Ah haven't finished kickin' the verbal shit outta him for lyin' to us yet."

"Ah. Gotcha."

Rogue rolled her eyes at him and turned to Warlock. "Ok, can you find him?"

Warlock frowned. "Self thinks Self-Friend Morph may still be out of range. Self does not think Self-Friend Morph has left the city, though."

"Why don't we go out to the park, then?" said Kurt. "It's pretty much in the middle of Bayville."

"Seems logical," said Forge. "If you don't mind, I'd rather stay here, though. I'm the 'recluse' type, in case you haven't picked up on that yet."

"Righto," said Kurt, saluting him. He, Rogue, and Warlock headed out.

WITH MORPH...

Morph was quite pleased with himself. He'd actually.finished with those damn fliers and was out of the suit. The manager handed him an envelope with his pay in it. _Ah, meager restitution,_ he thought, walking out. _Now, to_ finally_ get out of here..._

(Yeah, yeah, short and late... the next chapters will be longer. I promise. Because we're getting to the end.)

(1) Sidney is, of course, Morph's last name.


	5. Destiny

Disclaimer: "Yipee! That hurt!" "No, Cosmo, you're supposed to say 'ouch' when you're hurt!" "Yipee! That ouched!"

(An: TF, I am SO using that joke... I have such evil plans for this series. ;) You get some thin air if you can guess who's involved. The bus terminal/stop is where I say it is, since I pretty much made it up. So there.)

WITH MORPH, THE BUS TERMINAL, ONCE AGAIN...

Morph was waiting for the clerk to process his money and give him his ticket, in a normal human shape, not easily forgetting what had happened last time he'd been here. Ok, so it wasn't really the safest place in the world... but it was a way **out**, dammit. He took his ticket and headed out to the bus stop, loath to wait in there again.

_This time, I'm getting out of here,_ Morph thought. _No sidetracking, not this time._

IN THE PARK...

"Gettin' anything, 'Lock?" Rogue and Kurt had both adjusted by now to the whole "alien" thing. It wasn't much weirder than a hundred-odd year old guy with knives in his fists or an apparently omnicient bald telepath, after all.

Warlock had his eyes closed, frowning slightly. He was picking up something, but it was hardly anything as good as Morph. He shook himself and focused harder. He opened his eyes, looking pleased now. "Yes, Self has located Self-Friend Morph's basic location." He pointed northeast.

"The bus terminal," Kurt said, at the same time Rogue muttered, "Why am Ah not surprised?"

"Query: If you know where Self-Friend Morph is, can Self go back to Self-Friend Forge's dwelling now? Self is... tired."

"Sure," said Rogue, shrugging a little. "Go ahead. This probably ain't gonna be pretty, anyway."

Warlock headed off, with the feeling that whatever Rogue was gonna do to Morph wasn't very nice.

AT FORGE'S, ABOUT FIVE MINUTES LATER...

Warlock walked through the beads and into Forge's, glancing around for the inventor. "Hey, 'Lock," said mentioned inventor, doing the "appear out of nowhere" thing again. "Did you find Morph?"

"Yes, it was not hard," said Warlock. "Self-Friends Kurt and Rogue are going to talk with him now."

"I feel bad for him," Forge muttered, shaking his head. "And anyone else within range." It was about then that Forge realized Warlock wasn't listening. "What's up with you? You've been out of it all day."

Warlock fidgeted, tugging one of his hairs again. Forge prodded him. Warlock sighed. "Self will tell you. Self said that Self did not get along with Self's father, and that is true, but Self did not tell you **why**. Query: Correct?"

"Yep."

"Self and Self's father do not agree. Self's father is the Magus- the ruler of Self's planet. Self fled Self's home because in order to survive, Self would have to fight the Magus. Self does not wish to." He broke off, apparently thinking. "Query: Mutants are different from humans, correct?"

"That's like the understatement of the century, but yeah."

"Query: And humans and mutants disagree because of this?"

"If you can call hatred and fear 'disagreeing', then, yeah again."

"Self is different from Self's people in that way. On Self's planet, the only way Self would survive would be to kill the Magus. Self does not wish to, even though the rest of Self's people do. Query: Does this make Self a mutant?"

Forge had to think about this one. "So, basically, you're asking if the lack of the inborn drive to fight that the rest of your planet has makes you a mutant?"

Warlock nodded.

"Well, yeah, I guess... alien mutants. What **is** this world coming to." He peered at Warlock. "Not that the discussion of the mental and social habits of the Technarchy isn't fascinating and all, but what exactly does it have to do with my initial question?"

"Self left Self's planet to avoid fighting the Magus. But the Magus pursued Self. Self landed here by accident and Self thought he would be safe because there is nothing here to attract the Magus's attention. But Self was wrong. The Magus is coming."

"...And what exactly does this mean for us?"

"The Magus will tear your world apart in the search for Self. The Magus will scour the earth, stealing lifeglow from everyone and everything until he finds Self. And then he will fight me and destroy whatever's left."

"...So basically you're saying that this pretty much omnicient being is coming to eradicate whatever gets in his way until he finds you, and then he'll kill you and go all Armageddon on the rest of everything just for kicks?"

This took Warlock a minute to translate. "Well... yes."

"We are so screwed."

WITH MORPH...

The bus was coming down the road. Morph could see it. A few more moments and he'd be on it, out of Bayville for good. _To be cliched, Sidney, you've made your bed, so now lie in it._ Funnily enough, this didn't make him feel better.

Morph tilted back his head and looked up at the sky as the bus drove up. There was a flash as a shooting star shot across the sky. _Make a wish..._

The bus doors opened. Morph looked at the stairs, then back at the park.

"Hey, kid, you gettin' on or what?" the bus driver demanded.

_Would it really hurt anything for me to stay one more night? I can exchange my bus ticket and leave in the morning. Fresh day, fresh start._ "No, no, I'm not," Morph said, walking off back towards the bus terminal.

A FEW MILES OUTSIDE OF BAYVILLE...

The shooting star Morph had seen hadn't been a star, of course. It was a comet. About three miles from its target and thirsting for a fight, the Magus emerged.

(Whoo! Cliffhangy shortness! I've gotta stop saying things I can't back up. Yeah... I know this took ages... But getting out of improv and into plot always gives me writer's block. Ah, well.)


	6. Deathmatch

Disclaimer: "May I offer you a chair?" "Certainly. May I offer you a fish?"

(An: Well, here we go, back with the evil mix of canon and cloth. Now we get a date for this story- it's after "Cruise Control", because I have need of Magma's earth powers. I did my best to keep up with the Magus's real-life powers... but, eh. Oh, well. BTW, I don't have the greatest knowledge of exactly how Warlock talks, so to spare myself the agony, he's going to use pronouns when referring to the Magus. Because "The Magus" gets really annoying to type after the seventh or eighth time. And I have NO idea of how the Magus talks... so... yeah... I've got nothing to go off for that.)

AT FORGE'S HOUSE...

Warlock (who was recharging in the corner) suddenly sat up with a jerk. "Oh, no," he whispered.

Forge (who **didn't** sleep) looked up from his current project. "Something off, 'Lock?"

Warlock gulped. "The... The Magus has arrived."

"...And..."

"And he's coming." Since Forge didn't seem to be getting the hint, he added, "If Self and Self-Friend Forge do not do something to detain the Magus, it means eminent destruction."

"Oh. Right."

There was a pause.

"Query: Are Self and Self-Friend Forge going to get going... soon?"

Forge shook himself. "Yeah, yeah, c'mon." He headed out his door and started off.

"Self-Friend Forge, the Magus is **that** way," said 'Lock, pointing in the opposite direction.

"We're not going to the Magus," Forge replied. "I'm a lover, not a fighter. But I know some people who are..."

AT THE MANSION...

As usual, Bobby answered the buzzer on the gate. "Heeeello, Xavier's Ice Cream Shop/Vomitorium, where you splurge and then purge, how may we help you today?"

"Just let me in, Drake," said Forge, clearly annoyed.

"Oh, sorry, Forge," said Bobby. The gates swung open.

"Newbies," Forge muttered.

Forge led Warlock into the professor's study. "Best drop the look, 'Lock," said Forge. "It'll add some credibility to our tale." Warlock reassumed his normal form, shrugging.

The professor came in. "And to what do we owe the pleasure, Forge?"

"I know it's late, but it's a little urgent." The professor raised an eyebrow and Forge gave him a rushed explanation of the Magus and its powers. "It's just that this seems like a very 'X-men' thing to me."

The professor nodded. "I'll gather the team at once."

"See, toldja," Forge whispered to Warlock. "The X-men are **totally** made for this stuff." Warlock didn't reply. He was rocking back and forth on his heels, looking increasingly nervous.

WITH MORPH...

Morph was half-asleep on the bench when he was awakened by a familiar voice saying, "**There** you are!"

Morph blinked. "...Ro-?"

Before he had a chance to say anything, a gloved fist was connecting with his face. "**That**," said Rogue, crossing her arms and glaring at the recovering mutant, "was for leavin' before I could yell at you."

Morph blinked.

Kurt sighed. "Please, Rogue, keep it down. Remember the last time you clocked someone in public? I thought you hated anger management."

"Yeah, but the look on the swamp rat's face was priceless," said Rogue, a reminiscent smile on her face. Then she shook herself and turned back to Morph. "But that's not the point. The point is, you ran off without telling anyone. **Why**?"

"Er... itchy feet?"

"Do you like pain that much?"

"No, no, please don't hit me again," Morph responded, shrinking a little. "The healing thing doesn't work as well on broken bones and stuff."

Rogue rested her fist on her hip again. "Ok, so then why did you really leave?"

Morph shrugged, avoiding her (extremely pissed) gaze. "I..."

That was, of course, when Rogue's communicator went off. She pulled out the cellphone shaped device. "We're gonna continue this later," she said, grabbing him. "C'mon, Kurt, we gotta get back to the mansion."

The trio disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

OUTSIDE THE MANSION...

The group appeared just in time to hear the tail end of Warlock's explanation to the other X-men. "...but Self does not wish to fight the Magus-"

"Because you'll probably get hammered into next Tuesday?" Bobby offered.

Warlock paused. "Well, there's that... but also, Self just does not like to fight."

"Amen to that," Forge muttered, obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"So... what're we supposed to do about it?" Jubilee asked.

Warlock considered this a moment, tugging one of his hairs absently. "Self suppposes that if Self-Friends distracted the Magus long enough, Self could reprogram him and revert the Magus to a less powerful state... but he would have to be weakened considerably."

Both factions of the X-men exchanged glances. "We can handle that," they all chorused.

"Can you lead us to him, Warlock?" asked Scott (who was obviously still grasping the 'alien' concept). At his nod, Scott added, "Ok, X-men, New Recruits, we'll take the X-jet. Move out!"

In the hangar, Logan caught up to Morph, who was blending into the ranks easily enough. He put a hand on his shoulder. When Morph turned, Logan held out his X-suit. "Think you forgot something, kid."

Morph took it, staring.

"Once an X-man, always an X-man," Logan replied, getting on the jet. "Move it!"

WITH THE MAGUS...

The Magus growled softly to himself, sliding along an alleyway. This place was alien to him, and like it or not, he'd have to find a way to blend in. He smirked as he spotted a human headed his way. It was able-bodied enough, and brimming with lifeglow- a perfect target. A few more steps and the human was gone, infected, drained, and its shape assumed by the Magus. (1)

The Magus stepped out of the alley and headed in the direction of his son's signal.

ON THE X-JET...

Kurt slung an arm around the newly-uniformed Morph. "Liberating, isn't it?"

Morph blinked, and raised an eyebrow.

"The whole returning-to-the-team thing. I screwed up when I started here too- but Scott caught up to me before I got too far."

Morph stared at him for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess so."

He didn't get a chance to say anything more, because that was when Warlock spotted him. "Self-Friend Morph!" Warlock slid over by him.

"Hey, pally," said Morph, grinning. "Assimilate anyone yet?"

"Bad joke, Self-Friend Morph," Warlock responded.

Morph shrugged. "They can't all be gems, pal. And besides, I'm having a revelation here. Those things really cramp my style."

"Query: what is a revelation?"

Morph facepalmed.

A BIT LATER...

Finding the Magus wasn't particularly hard, not with Warlock's help. The X-men landed away from the spot, Morph and Warlock leading the way.

"**That's** him?" Morph demanded of Warlock, when the Magus was pointed out.

"He's absorbed a human in order to conceal himself," Warlock replied. "Once he recognizes my proximity, he will drop the shape, however."

"This probably isn't the best place for him to do it, though," Morph responded, eyeing the small suburb of Bayville. "Let's book for a spot more isolated, hmm?" He glanced at Scott, who nodded.

The X-men quietly left the city and headed out into a quarry a good quarter mile away.

The Magus smirked to himself as he headed after his errant son.

ABOUT FIVE MINUTES AFTER THAT...

Warlock gulped audibly. "The Magus is coming. He shall arrive any second now."

"Everyone got the plan?" Bobby whispered to the other New Recruits. There was solemn nods from all assembled. "All right, places, everybody."

There was a bang as the Magus appeared, in full alien form and about twenty feet tall, grinning rather nastily.

"Showtime!"

The senior X-men, Morph, and Warlock scattered, and the New Recruits stood in a tight knot behind Bobby. "Hey! Weird, black, and ugly! Come get me!" He made a very rude gesture at the Magus. The actual meaning was lost on him, but he got the point.

"Foolish," the Magus muttered. "Humans are so weak and yet so full of pride."

"You know, my English teacher said that," said Bobby. "But, then, I couldn't exactly do this in school!" With that, he powered up and blasted the Magus.

There was a cracking noise and the lines running over the Magus's surface flashed white for a moment. Then he let off a perfect evil laugh. (2)

"Can you do that?" Morph whispered to Warlock. "The laugh, I mean."

Warlock shot him a look.

"Sorry, nervous habit. What's up with daddy dearest?"

"If Self-Friend Bobby did what Self thinks he did... we are in trouble..."

"Why?"

"Technarchian powers are greatly enhanced by supercooling. It is much colder on Kvch than it is here."

"This is an 'oh, shit' moment, isn't it?"

"Probably."

"Humans are even stupider than it seemed," the Magus murmured, apparently to himself. He bent down towards Bobby.

"Hey!" Amara yelled, distracting him. When the Magus turned, there was a stream of red-hot melted rock waiting for him. "Nobody messes with us!" She pulled back the heat from the rock, and it hardened almost instantly. When the Magus pulled back, a good chunk of himself stayed behind. The blinding whiteness of his veins dimmed a bit.

"New plan!" Bobby yelled. "Pull him apart!"

"So, wait," Morph said, continuing the whispered conversation with Warlock, "if Bobby zapped you, that'd amp you up, too?"

"Well, yes," Warlock agreed.

While most of the New Recruits ran decoy as Amara, Sam, and Rob continued to yank off pieces of the Magus, Morph grabbed Warlock and ran over to Kurt. "Get us up by Bobby," he hissed.

"Why-"

"Trust me," said Morph.

Kurt blinked, and then grabbed them and bamfed. 

"Bobby! Zap 'Lock!" Morph said, grabbing his arm. 

"Are you nuts?"

"Just do it!"

Bobby stared at him for a second, and then froze Warlock.

Kurt, meanwhile, ran up to the Magus and began teleporting bits and parts of him away. This, combined with Rob and Sam stretching and Amara smashing, dimmed the Magus all the way down to yellow. (3)

"This is **odd**," said Warlock.

"Ponder that later, RLF now!"

Warlock took his advice and closed the gap, dashing up to the base of the Magus and doing something to the glowing veins on his body.

The Magus didn't know what to do. At his base, his offspring was reprogramming him, and at all other sides of him he was being battered and drained of lifeglow. Then there was a small beep, and a pop as the air rushed to fill the spot left by the newly infantile Magus.

"Wow," said Morph. "Nice."

Warlock shrugged. "It is the killing I objected to," he replied. "That is wrong in itself."

"Whatever, pally," said Morph.

The X-men pulled themselves together and all clustered around the Magus, which was about the size, shape, and apparent intelligence of a human baby. A very cross human baby, but still. "...What do we do with it?" said Bobby.

"Send it home?" Jubilee suggested.

"I wonder how much the postage would be for sending him across the galaxy," said Kurt.

"We could send him to Muir for study and containment," Kitty suggested, elbowing him. (4)

"Oh mah GOD," said Rogue. "Did you just come up with a good idea?"

Kitty glared at her.

(And that, as they say, is that. I hope to have the last chapter up soon... hopefully by Friday, but I can't promise anything. I actually think this second-to-last chapter doesn't suck as much as they usually do!)

(1) This is how the Magus learned about Earth in the comics; forcibly taking lifeglow is a complicated thing and we won't go into it.

(2) This is one of those comic things that is rather obscure but is supported by the T-O faq I use. T-O material is enhanced by cold. Iceman did the same thing to a Technarchian (of sorts, anyway) and he was stronger thanks to it.

(3) If you haven't figured it out yet, the veins running along all T-O creatures indicate their lifeglow levels. White is optimum, yellow is normal, and blue means they're very weak.

(4) I don't know what they actually did with the Magus in canon... oh, well.


	7. Delovely

Disclaimer: "Baby: the other OTHER white meat."

(An: And here it is, the last chapter of the last Big Boom story. I hope that sound I hear is sad sighing and not cheering...)

IN THE X-JET...

Warlock turned to Morph. "Query: Does Self-Friend Morph still wish to ditch the scene?"

Morph pondered this a moment, then slung an arm around Warlock's shoulders. "Nah, pally, I think I'll stick around. Besides, my bus ticket's expired." He peered curiously at Warlock. "But what'll you do? I mean, it's not like **you** have to leave- I highly doubt he'll be bothering you anytime soon," he nodded at where Bobby had put the infant Magus in a little ice cage, and was enjoying poking him with a sharp icicle if he attempted to escape.

Warlock apparently hadn't thought about this. He paused, and then said, "Self will stay here, if that is acceptable. Self... likes it here."

"Great! This means I can teach all about Earth culture... great things, like pronouns, hot dogs, and fish slapping!"

"Do you think we should stop Morph? After all, we'll get the blame if he corrupts 'Lock," Kurt whispered to Rogue.

"No, this is too funny," said Rogue. 

"Good point."

A FEW DAYS LATER, THE INSTITUTE...

It was a beautiful day outside. Of course, none of the New Recruits were enjoying it. They were running a DR session. They'd been doing a lot of these since Morph and Warlock had joined (well, rejoined in Morph's case).

Logan had said that they needed "to adapt to their new teammates capabilities" or something similar. Most of the New Recruits thought he was just being sadistic, though.

"Honestly," Morph gasped to Bobby as he hid behind a simulated tree. "I have never had to run for my life as much as I have here."

"Ditto," said Bobby. "You get used to it. Either that, or you snap and have a psychotic episode."

"That's really reassuring," Morph replied.

"Oh, this should be old hat by now, anyway," Bobby responded. "Oh, great, here they come!"

They dashed off as the opposing team came at them.

ABOUT TEN MINUTES LATER, THE COMMON ROOM...

"So, Warlock, how do you like it here?" Kitty asked, curled up on the couch.

Warlock thought on this a moment, then said, "It is not as messy as Self-Friend Forge's home..."

"You would say that," Kitty giggled. "You haven't seen Kurt's room yet."

"And the appliances don't talk, either."

"Oh, God, don't tell me the toaster talked to you, too?" Rogue groaned. "Ah swear, that is the first time Ah've ever been hit on by a kitchen appliance." She glanced at Remy. "People with similar IQs, maybe, but not an actual toaster..."

Remy looked up indignantly. "Did I say anything?" he asked Kitty.

"No," Rogue said, answering for her. "But you're still doing something Ah hate."

"_Quoi_?"

"That continous breathing thing."

Morph cracked up, and Remy muttered something that probably wasn't very nice under his breath.

"Mmmhmm," said Kurt, who had pretended not to hear Kitty's comment about his room. "It's all just business as usual at Mutant Manor."

"There's such a thing?" Kitty replied.

"Oh, you know what I mean," said Kurt, tickling her.

_It's nice to belong,_ Morph thought, flopping back on the floor. _Even if it's in a madhouse._

(Don't give me that look. My last chapters are always short. It's a fact of life. But, anyway, the point: this isn't the last. Soooometime eventually maybe soon maybe not, I shall be coming out with a series related to this: the Power Surge series. As the title suggests, it's about the characters as shown in the BB universe going through changes. It's also a trilogy, and it'll be a lot more romantic and shippy and stuff. Morph and Warlock will be featured occasionally, but it's more a focus on the characters from the first BB story. And the first one will be about Kurt. The title eludes me, though. That said, REVIEW!)


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